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I the Com-hem-feel-ureHag,T.C. *, this f the oouldussurelutinglestly. hand thters tone. fronts i lanesuren’t hoice Lo be what I’vegULSil! andNick’s Going To Spend Xmas In His Home Townd for 1,000a: pa-they dying rseas, 11 these re-te fall le sol* the jnefUi you re1 SCC ItNAPLES—Pfc, Nicholas La Ver-ghetta is going home for Christmas. Home doesn’t, mean Union Citv, N.J., where he’s lived for the past five years. Home. means the little Italian town of Istonla on the Ad-riatic coast, 20 mik* south of the Sangro River. Nicholas was bom there, lived there for 18 years.”1 Ju.«*t want to walk in and surprise every'body—my grand-parents and all my cousins and uncles and aunts Nobody e ver shuts Uie door in my house so I’ll just walk in and yell ’Merry Christmas everybody!’ ” ... If they’re still afcve.”The dark-haired stocky soldier was silent for a minute ’There’s been a lot of lighting up there,” he said There’s been a lot of bombing and shelling and road mining—so I’m not sure—I don’t know who’s alive or who’s dead—”1 don’t even know if my house is still standing,” he aaid. We've got a nil brick house near the junction of six rtxids. From my room 1 could see the sea . .Nicholas pointed to a. vny spot on the large-scale Italian map on the wall. :That's where I live,” he said ’’And I know every foot of the coastline over there, vome sections where the fighting Is going on right new. ’Nicholas snuled ‘ But »i I know every foot of it, then my grandla-ther knows every toch. U ***+ father baa been fishing up an# down that coast for more than 6** years. He’s an old man, my grai - *' father. Hes 87 now ”He took out an expensive-look pipe. This is lor my grandfathvi he said When I left for America five years and three days ago -h* only asked me far one favor Ht said that if I ever came bock f«? Italy, and he was afciil alive, the^. he wanted me to bring him a goo* pipe.Then, I’ve got some preeent* my girl’s grandparents. She a *1h in Union City now. She weni. 4 America finst and I fallowed * year later. We’ve been in love wni* each other ever since we were to talk.”Nicholas wandered up to the m.-r again and koked at it long «-;* hard as if he was seeing aunc thing which wasn’t there.’’You know, a guy feels funny mg ba*k homt, not knowing wn« to expect—whether there'll t** * of healthy, happy relatives ping me on the back or wheth * there’ll just be a lot of gravob ai* ghosts and a lot oaf broken relt;i bricks where my house used toBut I've got to go and find out/ he said. Do you know anyboo* driving out that way Christanu-time? My CO promised me a three-day pass —Sgi. R. G. M*
Newspaper Details
Sicily Stars and Stripes
Palermo, Sicily, IT
Fri, Dec 17, 1943
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael L.
MO, USA 11 Dec 2023
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